Should I feed silversides to my carpet anemone?

[sean obergfell]

Hello
I have a green carpet anenome and I am feeding it silversides and he is eating them up.

I just want to know if it's healthy?

Thank you
Sean

 

[Breadman03]

No.

There is nothing inherently wrong with a silverside. The issue is that they aren't held to the same food safety standards as human food and our anemones are very sensitive. When you put the two together, there is a very real risk of the anemone dying from spoiled food.

LRS and several others make very high quality frozen food and I used PE Mysis until a tank crash wiped me out. In the wild, it is quite rare for an anemone to get a fish. Their gut is typically loaded with planktonic life aka little stuff that drifts in the current and gets stuck in their tentacles.

 

[andy67]

Following...

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Breadman is right about not using silversides to feed anemones. The problem with them is they have thawed out and refrozen lord knows how many times and they carry bacteria that is very bad for our anemones. There are many stories of dead anemones from eating silversides.

I feed frozen mix food that I feed my tank. Frozen mysis is also good. You can even get some fresh salmon from your grocery store or seafood market to feed it. Only feed small pieces like a #2 pencil eraser so it's easier to digest.

 

[SeaCucumberFan]

Use fresh silverside, it's safer, but still has the risks. The anemone has different food standards than humans. I just use fish food

 

[davocean]

Many of us have lost healthy nems after a silverside feeding, myself included, actually I lost 3 healthy LTA's in a nem specific tank immediately after a feeding, never again for me.
There are much safer alternatives, mysis, shrimp, scallops, and really if your light is sufficient you could not spot feed at all, light is their main source of energy.

 

[Misled]

if your light is sufficient you could not spot feed at all, light is their main source of energy.

That!!!

 

[Bent]

That!!!

X2.

The only reason you should need to feed a nem is if it is bleached. If you have appropriate reef lights, photosynthesis will give the animal all the energy it needs.

 

[SeaCucumberFan]

Agreeeeeeeee

 

[Breadman03]

That!!!

From the guy who couldn't give them away fast enough.

I was always a fan of squirting some thawed mysis onto my anemones.

 

[ThRoewer]

I feed only Mysis and similarly small food.

The issue with whole frozen fish is that they can start to rot inside their abdominal cavity before the anemone digests them. So they can become a bacteria bomb inside the anemone. Even if the heads and guts were removed I wouldn't feed them to my anemones - it's just not what they eat in the wild.

 

[snorvich]

Many of us have lost healthy nems after a silverside feeding, myself included, actually I lost 3 healthy LTA's in a nem specific tank immediately after a feeding, never again for me.
There are much safer alternatives, mysis, shrimp, scallops, and really if your light is sufficient you could not spot feed at all, light is their main source of energy.

What he said.

 

[sean obergfell]

Ok
Thank you
Overwhelming vote of no to silverside !

Thank you

 

[Kevin Guthrie]

x3 on the light only diet. I have had a Haddon's for 15 years, never fed it anything and not sure I would want to. He does get scraps from feeding the fish. But at best if you feed it you will probably end up with another Haddon's.